Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

What is the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program?  

OYAP is an enhanced co-op program, which allows students to start to learn a skilled trade and to pursue an Apprenticeship or a career in the skilled trades via a Cooperative Education placement.  This is done at the same time as the student is completing the remaining requirements for their Ontario Secondary School graduation.

A Registered Apprenticeship is a legal agreement between a student, who wants to learn a skilled trade (the apprentice), an employer/sponsor, who provides the (on-the-job) training, and the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development (the provincial government).

Who is Eligible?

• Students must have successfully completed a minimum of 14 credits toward their OSSD;

• Students must be at least 15 years of age;

• Students must be enrolled full-time or part-time in a secondary school at a District School Board;

• Secondary school students who obtain their OSSD but return to a secondary school for additional credits (i.e. “5th year”) are also eligible for OYAP.

OYAP Program of Study

Year 1 and 2:

• Regular academic program with appropriate electives.

• Possible summer coop between grades 10 and 11.

Year 3:  

• Regular academic program with appropriate electives plus an enhanced Cooperative Education placement (apprenticeship on-the-job training).

Year 4:  

• Regular academic program with appropriate electives plus an enhanced Cooperative Education placement (apprenticeship on-the-job training).

Each OYAP participant must also receive trade-specific health and safety training from the placement employer or supervisor, and they must have a cooperative education learning plan. This plan includes the relevant skills outlined in the on-the-job Apprenticeship Training Standard for the specific trade.  Students and OYAP placement employers or supervisors must document the student’s achievement of these skills in the learning plan.

With proper planning, students may also be able to take their Level 1 Apprenticeship Training at a partner College while still enrolled in secondary school, depending on the provision of funding for annual seat allocations.

Please see the OYAP website for more information on this program.

What is OYAP-FAST?

Focused Apprenticeship Skills Training (FAST) is an accelerated stream within OYAP (“OYAP-FAST”) that will allow students in Grades 11 and 12 to participate in more apprenticeship learning through additional co-operative education credits while completing their OSSD.

Who is Eligible?

To participate in OYAP-FAST, students must:

• Meet the OYAP eligibility requirements listed above,

• Have signed parent/guardian consent to participate in OYAP-FAST (if under the age of 18), and,

• Select the appropriate OYAP-FAST Cooperative Education courses during their annual course selection process.

OYAP-FAST Program Completion

For a student to successfully complete the OYAP-FAST program, they must:

• Have earned 8 to 11 Cooperative Education credits with their placement component in the skilled trades.

• Be registered as an apprentice (obtained a Registered Training Agreement (RTA)) by the time they complete their eighth cooperative education credit.

Students who meet the above completion requirements and all other OSSD requirements will be awarded the OYAP-FAST seal on their OSSD, and OYAP-FAST will be listed in the Specialized Program field of the Ontario Student Transcript (OST).

Please Note:

Students and their parents/guardians are strongly encouraged to research post-secondary options before applying to this program.  Certain college and university programs will have prerequisite courses that are not easily fulfilled due to timetable constraints when taking the OYAP-FAST program.  Students in this program should be confident that they are pursuing the apprenticeship pathway for their post-secondary education.  They are encouraged to connect with their Guidance Counsellor to discuss how OYAP-FAST fits into their post-secondary pathway.